Charlie's Secret
by Kuhu
Summary: Charlie O'Neill shot himself with Jack's gun...But what if it wasn't an accident?
1. Remembering Charlie

**Stargate: SG-1 **

**Charlie's Secret**

Chapter 1: Remembering Charlie

_Off-world activation!_

Hammond entered the Gate room, and stood facing the gate infront of him.

'It has SG-1's code, sir.'

'Open the iris.'

The iris opened, and the wormhole was activated. The blue, shimmering substance that made up the wormhole shot out infront of the gate, then came back into itself. From the center of the ring, the four members of SG-1 walked onto the catwalk, followed by a sled, over which a blanket was draped, with something underneath.

Hammond walked down to greet them. Once through the blast doors, however, he stopped. Something wasn't right.

O'Neill entered without his usual smart-ass comment, and walked straight out of the room without taking off his sunglasses. He kept his head down, but the glimpse of his face Hammond had caught was grim. It was a look Hammond had only seen once before, when his son had died. Looking up at the other members of SG-1, he saw they weren't looking very happy either.

*

Hammond looked around at the people gathered in the briefing room. SG-1 was there, minus Colonel O'Neill. Hammond decided to break the tense silence that hung thick in the air.

'Major Carter, report.'

Sam hesitated, looking like she was trying to decide how to word it. Eventually, she started.

'As you know, sir, we were on out mission…

_They moved faster then normal in the lower gravity. Dry leaves and vegetation crunched under their boots as they moved away from the gate. _

'_Well,' O'Neill said, 'can't say much for the welcome party.' _

'_This world appears to be uninhabited, Colonel O'Neill,' Teal'C said. O'Neill nodded in reply. _

_They walked around the world for almost an hour, trying to find signs of human life. Daniel, ever curious, went off to the side, following something he'd seen. It wasn't long before he discovered what had happened to the humans. _

'_Jack! You'd better get over here!'_

_The rest of the team, Sam leading, ran into view, and came up along side him. Daniel pointed ahead of them. _

_Where there had once been a magnificent city were now piles of rubble, with the buildings in ruins. Wild plants and creepers grew over magnificent stone work, and vines twisted around the few, huge pillars that still stood._

_The ground infront of them was littered with human bones, some still connected into skeletons. _

'_Well,' O'Neill said, 'I guess we know what happened to the welcome party.'_

'After that, sir,' Sam went on, ' just as I was pointing out something, we noticed some movement in the bushes ahead of us.'

'_Position of the bodies suggests they all killed each other, sir-'_

'_O'Neill!'_

'_What is it, Teal'C?'_

'_There is movement in the bushes ahead of us!'_

_SG-1 moved foreword, raising their guns, ready to shoot if they had to. Their mission was to make peaceful relationships with the natives, but, in a hostile situation, SG-1's safety was paramount. _

_Something moved behind the bushes; then, something was hurled out of it; something that looked like a __**body**__. An odd demeanor came over O'Neill, then, he ran over to the body, turning it over. _

'The rest of us only ever saw Charlie once, but we recognized his body immediately. O'Neill was really upset; we brought his body back with us. It's still near the gate.'

'Thank you, Major.' Hammond looked around the remaining three people. 'Major, I want you to contact Doctor Fraiser. Tell her to do an autopsey on the body you brought back. Tell her to do DNA testing as well; if this is Colonel O'Neill's son, then something's very wrong here. Dismissed.'

Their was a flurry of movement as the three members of SG-1 stood up and left, Sam to talk to the doctor, Daniel and Teal'C to do their own thing. They may be going off to comfot Colonel O'Neill, something Hammond made a mental note to do later.

_Why would Jack's son, who's been dead for years, suddenly appear on a planet Jack just happened to visit?_


	2. Information

Chapter Two: Jack 

While SG-1 was reporting to General Hammond, Jack was sitting in the room he stayed in over night at the SGC, thinking over what happened.

_Charlie died years ago_, he thought. _It couldn't be those crystals again; I'm sure of that. _

Someone knocked on the door. Jack ignored it. The knock came again, a little more insistant. He was just contemplating heaving himself up off the bed when the door opened, and General Hammond came in. He stood in the doorway, looking at Jack, sitting on the bed, then flicked the light switch on the wall. The sudden flood of light allowed Hammond to see Jack's face for the first time. It was worse then he expected.

It wasn't that Jack was crying, holding himself, or even fingering his gun. It was that he was doing nothing.

Jack's face was expressionless, his eyes dead. This, to Hammond, really showed just how badly this was affecting the leader of SG-1

Hammond sat down on the bed next to O'Neill. Jack probably wouldn't talk to him, but Jack would know someone was there; and, from the way Jack didn't ask Hammond to leave, it probably meant something to him.

Major Carter was heading to the infirmery at a brisk pace, eager to hear Dr Fraiser's report. Sam had only ever seen Charlie in pictures, and once when a crystal had taken Charlie's form. Even though she'd never known Jack when Charlie had died, she knew from Daniel that Jack had contemplated suicide. She only hoped nothing bad would arise from this.

She met up with Daniel as he came through an intersecting corridor, examining something in his notebook and looking troubled. Purely by chance, the arcaeologist fell in to step beside her.

'Hey,' she said. Daniel looked at her, as if he'd just noticed. He was wearing his SG-1 jacket, zipped up to his throat, which, compared to the black shirt with the sleeves rolled back to the elbows Sam wore, looked quite formal.

'Oh, hi Sam,' he said. 'Listen, um, I was just going over the sketches I'd made of the villiage on that planet, and I noticed that there were no signes that the Goa'uld had been there for what seems like thousands of years.'

'How does this help us?'

'Well, think about it, Sam. _You said _the position of the bodies suggested they killed each other. _If_ the Goa'uld had been there recently to take hosts, I would have thought they'd have killed each other to stop their friends and family from suffering at the hands of the Goa'uld, but the fact that they weren't there suggests they killed each other for a different reason.'

'So, then, what could it be?'

Daniel shrugged.

'I agree with Daniel Jackson,' came Teal'C's voice, who, judging by how quickly he had arrived, must have been trailing behind them. 'If a Goa'uld had infested them, they may have killed each other in hope of killing the human carrying the symbiote, but there is no evidence of anything of the sort.'

'So, what you're saying is, something caused these people to go crazy and kill each other?'

'Yes,' Daniel said, doing some sort of awkward nod, 'or something gave them a reason to kill each other.'

The three of them turned a corner and entered the infirmery. 'Janet,' Sam said, the two men trailing slightly behind and on either side of her. 'Any news?'

Janet nodded, looking proffessional in her usual medical attire. 'I just finnished the DNA tests, and it seems-'

At that moment, the doors to the infirmery opened again, and Jack, followed by Hammond, who was making excuses for him not to enter, walked up to Janet.

'Got anything for me,' he said, his voice monotonus.

Janet hesitated. Clearly, she didn't want to deliver her news infront of Colonel O'Neill. 'Sir, I'm not sure you should be in here.'

Jack stared at her, betraying no emotion. 'He's my son, Fraiser. What do you have for me?'

Janet sighed, then consulted the open file she was carrying. She looked up from it, flicking it closed.

'DNA tests prove the body is that of the late Charlie O'Neill.'

No one spoke as their brains tried to process what Janet had just told them. Jack kept his head held high, continue standing straight, but, at Janet's words, his body took on a stiffness that betrayed what he was feeling.

'I've also conpleted my autopsy on the body,' she said, walking past them to where Charlie lay, covered, from his shoulders down, by a white sheet. 'My findings were identical to that of the autopsy performed when he first died. Cause of death was a gun shot wound, self inflicted, as proved by the angle of the shot and Charlie's fingerprints on the gun.' She shrugged. 'Asside from that, there's really nothing more I can tell you.'

'Janet,' Jack said. 'Charlie's body is in a coffin in a graveyard. It has been for years. How is it possible his body ended lightyears away on another planet?'

'I don't know,' Janet said after a pause. 'To tell you the truth, I don't even know how this body can be identical to Charlie's, if both of them are human and neither of them are clones.'

Stunned silence followed Janet's speech. All of them were wondering what could cause _two_ of the same person to appear, on different planets, several years appart.

'Could the Asgard have anything to do with this?' Sam asked tentatively.

'I don't think so,' Janet replied. 'As far as any of us knows, while the Asgard are skilled at cloning, they can do nothing of this magnitude. I'm really at a loss to explain it.'

Jack looked grim. 'Thank you, Doctor,' he said, then left.


	3. Scene of the Crime

**Chapter Three: Scene of the Crime**

After a second debriefing, Hammond ordered SG-1 back to the planet. Teal'C had suggested a second visit would reveal more clues as to what had happened, and the rest of SG-1 agreed with him.

Teal'C, Sam, and Jackson met infront of the Stargate, and lined up infront of the ramp, making a last check of the equipment and fumbling around in pockets. Eventually, they couldn't pretend to be busy any more, and stood around, waiting for Jack. Only Teal'C managed to look impassive, but it was clear to those who knew him that he, too, was somewhat bored waiting for Jack.

The colonel arrived, thirty minutes after the rest of the team, without even a comment on his lateness. Hammond, looks of mingled understanding and impatience crossing his face, leaned foreword towards the mike, holding onto the top.

'Alright, SG-1, you have a go.'

Alarms blazed all over the Gate room, a voice in the background delivering progress reports on the number of cheverons encoded.

'You ready, sir?' Sam asked Jack. He looked briefly at her, then looked back towards the Gate, the impassive look on his face identical to that Teal'C usually wore. The plasma-like substance that filled the Gate regurgitated out into the room, then fell back in on itself with a ripple. Blue light dancing over Jack's face, he walked up the ramp before the rest of his team, his friends following behind him. Sam and Jackson walked side by side, not talking to each other; Teal'C brought up the rear, his staff weapon held by the middle in his hand.

Hammond watched them disappear, and hoped the planet would provide the answers to this problem.

The air was cool and crisp, but not so bad as to be uncomfotable. The forest in which they had discovered Charlie's body seemed dark and ominous, no doubt because of the gruesome discoveries they had made on their previous visit.

Jack made no comment, but went right on ahead. His long legs covered the distance far more effectively then the rest of his team, and, in the same order in which they had walked through the Gate, they proceded to enter the forest. Daniel jammed his tilly hat further down on his head, and walked a little faster, though it did little good.

Now that they knew what they were looking for, it wasn't long before they arrived at the ruins. Jack arrived their before anybody else, and, when they caught up to him, they found him standing among the bodies, looking at the bushes as though he expected Charlie to come out of them again.

'Sir,' Sam said, coming up along side them. 'It's a bit much of a coincidence that all these people appear to have killed each other _and _that your son showed up.' She hesitated, glancing down, as though she wasn't quite sure how to procede, then continued. 'With your permision, I'd like to take a couple bone samples back with me. Maybe we can find out what happened to these people. And,' she added, 'your son.'

Jack considered her for a minute, then nodded. 'Procede, Major.' He walked off, heading towards the bushes. Teal'C and Daniel had spread out, and were searching the camp.

Jack was in the bushes, searching the ground. The grass was flattened, indicating whatever – or whoever – had given them Charlie's body had been waiting for them. He saw the rings a few meters away, and the flattened grass indicating something had been dragged proved the person to have come down to the planet through the rings.

At about this time, Daniel saw it. He called out for Jack, then called a second time when the replicator began to advance.

Sam looked up from where she had been collecting bone samples. Stuffing the latest sample in a pocket of her vest, she jogged over to Daniel, Teal'C a few steps behind her.

Not long after, Jack rushed out of the bushes to their left, and fell in beside them. It was clear to his team mates that he had been on the other side of the bushes when he had began running, without bothering to cross back over.

They stopped a meter behind Daniel, who couldn't stop looking at the replicator "bug".

'Guys,' he said, glancing nervously over his shoulder, 'guys, we should get back to the Gate. If this place becomes a replicator planet, we're doomed.'

'I agree with Daniel Jackson,' Teal'C said. 'The replicator will not harm us, but it would be disasterous for us to bring it back with us through the Stargate.'

Jack nodded once. 'Alright. Move out!'

They all started walking towards the Stargate, but Sam stayed behind. She wasn't sure what it was, but something made her stay. She had the nagging feeling they weren't alone.

The rest of SG-1, trudging through the forest towards the edge of the trees, heard three gunshots ring out behind them. They turned around, Daniel's hand going to his hat for no particular reason. Fear coursed through Jack's veins as he realised what had happened.

'Sam!' he called, running back the way they'd come. Daniel and Teal'C spared barely a glance between them before following.

When they arived, they saw Jack leaning down, holding Sam in his arms, three bullet wounds in her chest. Jack seemed to be chocking back tears, and was yelling at Sam to wake up.

Seeing his team mates, Jack stood up, carrying Sam in his arms. 'Let's get back to the Gate,' he said, then started running. Feeling like his lungs were about to burst, Daniel followed alongside Teal'C, wondering how on Earth Jack could run so much without stopping.


	4. Exhibit A

Chapter Four: Exhibit A 

Jack sat by the hospital bed, looking listless. Machines beeped, numbers flashed on screens, and Sam Carter, a mask over her mouth and nose, fought to breathe.

It had taken hours to save her, thoroughly exhausting the medical personnel assigned to monitor her condition. The people in the Cheyenne Mountain Complex had nothing but respect for Janet Fraiser, who stayed by Sam's side throughout the entire ordeal, and who took only short naps to keep her from fainting in her effort to be there immediately should any trouble arise.

Jack had run through the Stargate and down the ramp, shouting for a medical team. Janet Fraiser, as per custom, was already present, and shouted orders to the medical personnel appearing in the Gate room, carrying equipment with two nurses pushing a gourney.

Jackson and Teal'C, immediately upon ensuring Sam's condition was stable, had returned to the planet to figure out what happened. SG-13 had been sent with them as back up, which would, hopefully, be an unnecessary precaution.

For the most part, SG-13 fanned out, staying mainly behind and around the bushes behind which Sam's attacker had been. Jackson had opted to stay behind the bushes, while Teal'C had searched for evidence near where Charlie's body had been. Jackson walked around, his eyes to the ground, looking for anything that might provide a clue as to what had happened. The light caught something in the grass, and he stopped in midstride, furrowing his brow. Backing up half a step, Jackson kneeled down, pushing aside blades of grass and picking it up. He turned it over in his hand, standing up, then his gaze lifted as he comprehended what he was seeing.

'Teal'C! Teal'C! Teal'C!'

Teal'C turned around, looking at where Daniel Jackson was running up behind him, panting for breath, his hands clutched tight into fists.

'Daniel Jackson,' Teal'C said. 'I think I may have found something.'

'Yeah,' Daniel said, coming to a halt, out of breath. 'Yeah, me too. Uh, here,' he looked down at his fist, then opened it up, extending it to Teal'C, 'look at this.'

Teal'C took one look at it, then looked at his fist, which he was slowly raising. He looked up at Daniel, opening his fist. Taking one look at it, then looking at his own, Daniel and Teal'C slowly looked at each other.

Gunfire erupted all around them. Instinctively, they ducked, then ran for cover. SG-13 opened fire behind them.

A moment later, the gunfire stopped. Army personnel peeked out from behind trees, bushes, rocks. Nothing stirred.

As per requested when they radioed in, General Hammond was waiting for them in the Gateroom when they stepped through. They had reported news of their discovery and ambush before arriving through the Gate, making a debriefing unnecessary.

'Any news on the case?' Hammond asked as soon as Daniel appeared infront of him at the bottom of the ramp.

'I dunno. Think we may have found something.'

'Anything on your attackers?'

'None. Uh, where's Jack?' Daniel asked, looking around.

'He's in the infirmary. Follow me.'

They walked through the halls, Hammond in the lead. Inwardly, Daniel was dreading what he had seen. _Jack's been through too much in the last week, _he said. _I'd hate if any of this got worse; I don't think he'd be able to take much more of this._

Before he knew it, they had reached the infirmary. What lay before them was a sad sight for Jackson to behold. 

Sam lay in a hospital bed, a mask over her mouth and nose and tubes in her arms leading to various places. Daniel could hear beeps, strange, mechanical noises, and Sam's labored breathing. Doctor Friseur sat in a chair, looking dead from exhaustion; Jack sat opposite her, looking worse.

His back was hunched, his elbows resting on his knees. His small eyes were lifeless. Bags were under his eyes from not having slept for days. But worse of all was the aura he gave off. It was one of despair, of utter hopelessness.

'Daniel Jackson,' Fraiser said, her voice weary. 'What have you found?'

'How's Sam?' Daniel answered.

'She's stable,' Janet said, approaching him. 'Actually, I'm more worried about Jack. He's had it tough.'

'Yeah,' Daniel agreed, rubbing his brow. They stood there for a minute, then Daniel remembered what Janet had asked. 'Oh, yeah, uh, yeah, the, uh, the stuff we found, um…' He looked through his pockets franticly, before Teal'C came up behind him, holding two plastic bags.

'Are these what you are looking for, Daniel Jackson?'

'Uh, yes, yes yes yes yes yes, thank you, uh, Teal'C.' They walked over to a table, putting the bags under a light. Daniel opened the bags, carefully pulling out their contents and holding them in the palm of his hand.

Fraisier gasped. 'Are those…'

'Yes,' Daniel said.

'Deffinately?' Hammond said.

'Indeed,' Teal'C said.

'What've we got?' said a voice from behind them.

Turning around, they saw it was Jack. He was standing, his head cocked to his left, his thumbs hanging out of his pants pockets. There was a moment of silence for a moment, as everyone realised just how much this news would mean to Jack, during which time the colonel approached the table, then Teal'C replied, just before Jack saw what was in Daniel's hand.

'It is a replicator block.'

Jack didn't seem to absorb this information, but picked up the objects in Daniel's hand, turning them over in his hand as Teal'C continued.

'We found two of them, one near each of the scenes in question.'

Jack was silent for a moment, staring at the small metal objects in his hand.

'Replicator blocks…' he repeated.

They heard a faint stirring from behind them.

'…Jack?'


	5. Discovery

Chapter Five: Discovery 

Jack spent the next hour explaining everything to Major Carter, sparing her no details. She listened quietly to everything, asking no questions until he was finished. When it was done, they all sat for a moment, puzzled.

'This could be coincidence,' Carter said. 'The replicator blocks could just be there as a result of replicators landing on the planet.'

'And they just happened to be found at two crime scenes?' Jack asked, sounding a little more harsh then he intended. 'If it's just "coincidence", why didn't we find any others, anywhere else?'

'Besides,' Daniel said, 'the replicators are still stuck in the slow-time envelope. They wouldn't be able to come here.'

'…They did once,' Carter said, 'remember?'

There was an uncomfortable silence. No one wanted to remember the time when Major Carter had been kidnapped by one of the replicators.

'Well, it had to have gotten there some how,' Jack said. 'And I'm going back on that planet to find out why.'

The team simply stared at him.

'Well, do you want me to stay here and simply wonder how my _son_ ended up on an alien planet?!?! Or contemplate why my _friend_ ended up with three bullets in her _on that same planet_?!?!'

Inside, Daniel winced – it was never fun to hear Jack yell. Daniel said, 'We'll let you go, but not alone. Teal'C and I are coming with.'

'Like hell you are,' Jack responded.

'We will accompany you, O'Neill,' Teal'C said.

'I said _no_,' Jack yelled again.

'She's our friend, too, Jack,' Daniel said. Jack stopped – the archaeologist had a point. '…All right,' he said, 'you can come. But don't blame me if you die.' And, with that, he left.

Daniel and Teal'C met Jack in the Gateroom half an hour later. Jack was staring at the wormhole, holding his gun. 'You ready?' Daniel asked. Jack didn't respond. Daniel took that for a "yes".

The wormhole opened, and Jack started up the ramp. Daniel and Teal'C followed closely behind him.

They walked onto the planet without pausing, and Jack started off towards the woods. Without caring whether or not his teammates kept up, Jack went first to where they found Charlie, stepping over the skeletons as though he didn't notice them, and kneeled down in the bushes. He looked it over once, then once more, closer. He didn't find anything. Jack got down on his hands and knees and crawled over the area, but, still, he didn't find anything. Disappointed, Jack stood up, and walked to where Major Carter had been hit. Again, though he crawled all over, he didn't find a further clue as to who had been there.

Daniel and Teal'C came up behind him. 'Have you found anything, Colonel O'Neill?' Teal'C asked in his deep voice.

'Nothin',' came the reply. Jack sighed, looking around, still crouched. Something caught his eye. Getting up, he walked over to it at a brisk pace.

'Hey, uh, Jack! Jack!' Daniel had to jog to keep up. Teal'C was, perhaps, the only one who could keep up with the colonel, and didn't seem to mind.

Jack came to a stop at what looked like a camp. There was a tent at one end, but no fire pit. Jack looked at the tent more closely, and learned it was an Earth brand. Wondering how successful an brand had to be to sell off of it's own planet, and finding this didn't cheer him up as he had intended it to, he unzipped the door, and stepped inside. The sight of it made Jack blink.

When Jack had seen the tent from the outside, he had expected to see a sleeping bag inside, a duffel bag, perhaps a portable stove. Instead, the inside was covered with replicator blocks, from the floor to the walls to the ceiling. There was no portable stove or food supplies, but some form of alien device was stowed away in one corner, which evidently ran on regenerative power – Jack didn't think it likely the bugs would take only one source of food. Why, however, the replicator bugs were even here in the first place was a question he didn't want to answer…and yet desperately wanted to know the answer to.

Jack exited the tent, and saw Daniel and Teal'C waiting respectfully outside. He cast about for the right way to tell them, then decided to be blunt.

'Sam was right,' he said. 'The replicators are here.'

'Are you sure, O'Neill?' Teal'C asked, cocking his head.

'Way sure,' Jack replied, then held back the tent flap. 'See for yourself.'

Teal'C seemed to hesitate for a moment, then went in, Daniel following closely behind. They needed only to stay in for a moment before coming out again, Daniel looking thoroughly confused, Teal'C looking mearly contemplative.

'So, Teal'C,' Jack said, making and failing an attempt at his old sarcastic demeanor, 'got any idea on where that technology came from?'

Teal'C looked at him. 'I do not, O'Neill,' he said. Jack sighed.

The bushes behind them rustled, and they all spun around to look.

'…What was that?' Daniel asked.

'Dunno…' Jack replied, raising his weapon and walking foreword carefully. As he advanced, he could see a figure beginning to run away from the bushes where it had been watching them.

'Hey!' Jack yelled, running after the figure. Daniel and Teal'C exchanged glances, then ran after him.

Whoever it was they were chasing, he – at least, Jack assumed it was a he – was fast. Despite his long legs, Jack had trouble keeping up with the shorter figure. He was unwilling to fire, lest the figure be simply a native who was spooked, but, by the same token, it could be hostile.

Then Jack thought about his son, about Sam, about how every thing had been going wrong from the moment they got on this planet, and how that figure might be his only chance of finding out what happened. This thought gave him renewed energy, and he ran faster after the figure sprinting ahead of him.

Jack caught up to the figure fairly quickly, and hurled himself at it, knocking it to the ground. The figure was strong, and tried to escape, but Jack held it down, his grief giving him surprising strength. Jack and Daniel caught up, and Jack stepped back. Daniel and Teal'C exchanged glances.

'If you want, I can tell you the story,' the figure said. 'I always wanted to, Jack. It would be so much more painful for you.'

Jack stared with loathing down at the body infront of him. He recognised the person immedietly; he would never forget it's face.

It was Number Five, one of the replicators in human form, the one that had kidnapped Major Carter.


	6. Retelling

Chapter Six: Explanation

_This was it. After weeks, months of research, this was finally it. He could escape the slow-time envelope. _

_Five had researched this as far as he could. He had set up a ship specifically so as he could. And now, he sat in the cockpit of that ship, preparing to take off. _

_The others didn't know, of course. He didn't want them to. _

_Five fired up the engine, then pulled back on the steering wheel. The nose of the ship slowly lifted, and engines pushed it up into the atmosphere. Five pushed a few buttons, removing his eyes from the sky ahead of him for a few precarious seconds to do so. Eventually, he took his hand from the control board and put it back on the steering wheel, gripping it tightly. Putting his foot on a foot-peddle, he bit his lower lip as the ship surged forward with a burst of speed – a burst of speed which was rapidly reversed as he hit the slow-time envelope. For a few agonizing seconds, Five was afraid it wouldn't make it through – then, it did, and he breathed a sigh of relief. Admittedly, it had startled him when the ship suddenly accelerated after emerging from the envelope, but that had been quickly brought under control, and the ship's speed slowed to almost a stop. _

_After bringing his emotions under control, Five sat up, and pushed a joy stick foreword, setting the ship back into motion. Five smirked. How easy this was going to be. _

_With Five's new engines, it took him only six days to reach Earth. He landed in a remote area, then walked to O'Neill's house. Or, at least, what __**should have been**__ O'Neill's house. He didn't live there. _

_But there was a newspaper on the door mat. Five looked at it. _

_It was several years to early. _

_Damn. _

_This meant O'Neill lived somewhere else, had a different life. Five knew he couldn't kill O'Neill. Not yet. _

_But then an idea occurred to him. He couldn't kill O'Neill, but he could hurt him. By attacking his family. Perhaps a mother, or sister. _

_Yes, that would work. Five set off in the direction of the nearest computer. _

_It wasn't long before he'd found what he needed and was at O'Neill's house. No one was there; it was midday. But, as Five entered the house, and glanced to one side, he paused, then smiled an evil smile. He knew the perfect way to get revenge. _

_O'Neill had a son. _

_Five went up to the boy's room, then to the living room of the house. He sat in a chair, and crossed one leg over the other, resting his arms on the arms of the chair as he lay his head back, closing his eyes and waiting. _

_It was only a few hours before the boy came. _

_He kept his head down as he walked, a knapsack slung over one shoulder and held there with a loose hand. He hoped from one step to the other, and opened the door, dropping the bag beside his shoes as he kicked them off sloppily. He jogged to the stairs and up the first two as he glanced casually at the living room; then, Five heard a pause, and the boy came back down the stairs. He looked at Five curiously. _

_Five smiled at him. 'Hello,' he said to the boy. 'My name's Five. What's yours?'_

_The boy cocked his head. 'Five?' he said. 'That's a number, not a name.' He said it as though everyone knew that. _

'_Yes, I know it is,' Five said, 'but I'm special. I got named with a number. Now, I'll ask you again, what's your name?'_

'_Charlie,' the boy said with a shrug. _

'"_Charlie",' Five said. 'A good name for a young man like you.'_

_Charlie grinned. It was clear it had pleased him to be referred to as a "man". _

'_Thanks,' Charlie said. 'You, uh, you wanna come up to my room?' he shrugged one shoulder. 'I could...show you my Playstation.'_

_Five smiled. 'I'd like that,' he said, standing up and following Charlie up the stairs and down the hall to his room. _

_It was going well._

_It was going better than Five could ever have dreamed. _

_So far, the boy trusted him. Implicitly. _

_Five decided now was the time. He was getting too close to the boy – it was getting dangerous. Five had to admit, it was fun. They were playing a mindlessly entertaining game, called "Mario Party", and Five couldn't believe how entertaining it was. This was what was scaring him. If he became too close to the boy, he would never be able to carry out his goal. _

_And then, the opportunity came in a form Five never expected. _

_O'Neill, the boy's father, had left his gun lying carelessly on a table. _

_Charlie came in from outside. Through a window, Five could see O'Neill greeting the one Charlie called "mom". Charlie also glanced outside before looking at Five – one of the first things Five had made him promise was that he would never tell O'Neill or Mom about him. _

_Five picked up the gun, and turned it over in his hands, then held it out to Charlie, handle first. Charlie didn't take to the idea well. _

'_N-no!' he said. 'D-dad said I should never touch that!'_

'_Did he, now,' Five said, smiling wryly. 'And do you do __**everything **__Daddy sais?'_

_Charlie winced slightly. Five had discovered long ago that if he used the word "daddy" to refer to O'Neill, Charlie usually bent to his will. Five had found it very useful in the past few days. _

'_...N-no...' Charlie said, not meeting Five's eyes. _

_Five smiled again. 'Take it,' he said, extending it a little farther toward him. 'It's not dangerous.'_

_Charlie looked at it, then at Five. '...It isn't?_

_Five smiled again. 'No, of course it's not.' His smile widened slightly. 'Don't you trust me?'_

_Charlie looked at Five, then at the gun, and extended a shaking hand towards it. As he picked it up, he turned the muzzle towards his head...and it discharged. _

_Five could hear Mom yelling Charlie's name agonizingly. It was music to his ears. _

_Years passed. Five lived his life on Earth quietly, not drawing attention to himself. He worked in a coffee shop, and acquired a taste for the – at first – nauseating-looking brown liquid. He had even chosen a name for himself. It wouldn't attract that much attention, he was sure. _

"_Meryl Streep"._

_For some reason, everybody laughed when he told them that. _

_The years went very slow. At one point, he kidnapped Major Carter and held her hostage, but quickly released her due to his own inherent weakness. Angry at himself, he hopped a ride through the nearest Stargate to planet P3X-692, hoping to forget what happened. _

_The planet was just suited to his needs – the people had gone mad and killed each other for reasons Five didn't care to speculate on. But the natives, before they had died, had amassed a large sum of technology, which they had stored in a vault below the planet's surface that Five would never have found if he hadn't almost tripped over it. One piece in particular ran on energy and was self-powered, and could make its own energy, making it ideal for Five's needs. He had a tent he'd bought on Earth – he had a fire starter, marsh mellows – which he had acquired a taste for along with coffee, especially when roasted – and bangs and bags of coffee beans. Yes, life on this planet would be very grand indeed. _

_Five's supply of marsh mellows had long since run dry, and his coffee was fast going the way of the dinosaurs by the time they came. Five heard their voices before he saw them, and, once he heard them, his heart sang with joy. _

_One of the voices belonged to O'Neill. _

_Anticipating their visit to their planet, Five had long since built a replica of Charlie O'Neill with genetic material he had miraculously saved. He replicated the exact clothes Charlie had been wearing that day, and even the exact pattern of the gunshot wound. Now, he picked up the replica corpse, and threw it from the bushes. The look on O'Neill's face was worth all the days without marsh mellows. _

_Days past, during which time Five's coffee ran out, and SG-1 came again. This time, they had people with them, and Five had a gun. At first, he wondered at whom he should aim – then, he remembered something. _

_O'Neill, like himself, was in love with Major Carter. Major Carter, the woman who had caused him so much pain. Five fired three shots mercilessly into her chest. _

'And the rest,' Five said, looking up at O'Neill as though relating the story of a holiday off of work, 'you know.'


	7. Punishment

Chapter Seven: Punishment

O'Neill could feel his jaw pulse. Unable to stand the image of Five's smug grin, he turned around and took a few steps away, then turned back and fired his handgun six times into Five's head.

And Five just kept looking at him, with that same smug smile on his face.

O'Neill looked at him for a few seconds, with his mouth opened, and then fired again, ten shots. It still didn't work.

O'Neill was surprised.

Not in a good way.

Well, why shouldn't he be? This wasn't supposed to happen.

Daniel tried it this time. It still didn't work.

It didn't work either when Teal'C did it.

Something wasn't right here.

Teal'C and Daniel noticed it, too. They took out their guns and began shooting at Five as well, but it had the same effect. The two men lowered their guns, but didn't have much time to dwell on the new development, as an even more urgent one was about to take place.

A replicator bug crawled down the tree behind Five, stopping near it's shoulder. It was quickly followed by two others, then a fourth, and a fifth; within seconds, they had swarmed the clearing, surrounding the three humans. Their heads whipped around as they tried to take in every bug at once.

'It's no use,' Five said smoothly. 'You're surrounded.' He smiled coolly. 'Say good-bye, Colonel.'

A muscle in Jack's jaw twitched. 'Good-bye!' he yelled, shooting at the nearest bugs. After a pause, Daniel and Teal'C joined in. But it was futile – for every replicator they killed, two more replaced it. They were just making it worse.

It wasn't long before Jack realised this. 'Hold you're fire!' he called, holding one hand up. The firing stopped immediately.

Five smiled. 'Good thinking, Jack,' he said. 'Otherwise, things would have gotten very difficult for you.'

Jack stared at Five, panting. 'What do you want?!' he demanded.

'Only one thing, Jack,' Five said. 'Revenge.'

'And why's that?!' Jack asked.

Five felt fury well up inside him.

'You don't _know_?!' he yelled at O'Neill. 'You don't _know_?! _You _were the one who left me on the planet! _You_ were the one who ruined my life with the other replicators when they found out I'd helped you! _You were the one who took Samantha Carter away from me!_''

Five launched himself at O'Neill, and the startled colonel was too shocked to fight back. Jack could faintly hear Daniel calling out his name as he felt himself on his back with Five's hands at his throat.

O'Neill managed to punch Five in the side of the head and sent the replicator stumbling off him, but he knew he wasn't much better off as he pushed himself to his knees. Through a field of vision that swam before his eyes, O'Neill saw Teal'C and Daniel grab Five's arms and twist them behind his back. Pulling himself up to his feet, he stumbled slightly as his head swam, then tried his best to stand straight as he looked at Five.

How was he supposed to defeat a replicator? They didn't have that kind of technology with them.

_We need to restrain him_, O'Neill thought. _Restrain him...tie him up against something...Something so that we can get out of here and destroy the gate..._

'Daniel! Teal'C!' Jack called. 'C'mon! I feel like a tin of soup!'

The two men stared at him in bewilderment.

'You know,' O'Neill said. 'Like I've been locked up in a cupboard or something.'

There was a hint of understanding in his teammate's eyes. Or maybe they just thought he was nuts.

'Let's get me out!' O'Neill said, starting off in the direction of a vault he had learned the natives had built when the probe had sent back data. His confused team members followed slowly, gaining speed and enthusiasm once they figured out what he'd planned. It took them only a little while to reach the vault and O'Neill opened the door. As Teal'C placed one knee firmly on the replicator's back, Daniel and Jack began tying him with vines, ignoring his shouted protest. As they finished tying the knots securely, they stepped back to give Teal'C room to throw the replicator down. As he did so, Jack and Daniel went over to the nearest boulder and strained to push it over. Teal'C, with his inhuman strength, came to help, and the dragged the boulder over the entrance to the vault. Wanting to be thorough, they did that with two more boulders before stepping back, panting.

The three men stared at the boulders covering the only escape route of their most hated nemesis. All three were thinking of all the pain Five had caused them recently, and all were feeling vengeful.

O'Neill turned sharply from the boulders, and began walking back to the Gate. 'C'mon,' he said. 'We gotta get back to base so we can nuke this thing. Might as well destroy the DHD so he can't go anywhere else.'

Slowly, SG-1 turned to follow O'Neill, each still lost in his own thoughts. As they walked through the Stargate and travelled through the wormhole, the problem of the replicators seemed insurmountable.


	8. At Rest

Chapter Eight: At Rest

Sirens wailed and security personnel swarmed into the Gate room as SG-1 came back. They lowered their guns and stood up as they recognised their friends, then stood back as Hammond entered.

'SG-1,' he said. 'Have you neutralized the problem?'

'...Almost, sir,' Jack said.

'We've managed to lock him in an old vault,' Daniel said as the wormhole disengaged. 'We wanted to send something through to destroy the DHD so that if he does escape, he doesn't come back.'

Hammond nodded. 'Good plan, Jackson,' he said. We'll mark the gate address so that nobody goes back.'

'Let's just get on with it, shall we?' Jack said. 'We don't want to wait.'

'Yes, come with me,' Hammond said, letting the insubordination pass. Leading them out of the Gate room, the four spoke about what sort of weapon would destroy the DHD for sure. Nobody could settle on a particular one, but one thing they all agreed on was that it had to be powerful enough to make sure the DHD was completely destroyed, and that the more damage could be done to the Gate the better.

Jack sighed as Daniel and Teal'C disagreed again on choice of weapons, which was made all the worse by the fact that an alien and an archaeologist considered themselves experts in a field normally dealt with by their military teammates. 'Sam would know,' he said, silencing the other men. After a pause, Hammond said, 'Are you sure she's strong enough to answer?'

'No,' Jack said, passing him and making his way towards the hospital, 'but it's worth finding out.'

As the four men entered with Jack in the lead, Fraiser went over to them.

'She's still weak,' she said. 'Whatever you have to say, can it wait?'

'No,' Jack responded. 'This is an issue we need her advice on. It'll only take a minute.'

Sighing inaudibly, she went to the bed to wake Sam up. Jack went over to stand by his friend's bed as she stirred, then turned to look at him.

'What is it?' she asked. Her voice was quiet.

'We just need your help on something,' he responded.

As Jack explained the situation, Hammond spoke with the doctors in charge of Sam as to what he should expect. To the relief of himself and her teammates, she was going to make a full recovery, but didn't advise she go back into active service for a few weeks.

Jack came over to them just as the talk ended. 'We've got the information,' he said. 'Let's get it and get out of here.'

*

It took them a long time to find the one they wanted, even with the help of six others, and then came the debate over what to do with it. They argued over whether they should send it in with a probe, if they should send someone to just set it at the base of the DHD and then set it off on a timer, or to just throw it through the wormhole after activating it. Nobody particularly wanted to waste yet another probe, and most doubted their aim through a wormhole. Jack and Teal'C volunteered to deliver the weapon personally, and despite Daniel's protests, Hammond allowed them to do so. With great care, they brought the weapon into the Gate room, and watched as the address was dialled for the last time.

*

Jack panted as he took the weapon to the DHD with Teal'C, who appeared unaffected by the intense weight. Jack looked down at the steps as he made his way to the device, trying not to miss one. By chance, he looked up midway down. It was a good thing he did.

The field in front of them swarmed with replicators. Some of the bugs were large; some were small. To Jack's surprise, Five stood in the middle of them, the same smug grin still on his face.

'You forgot, Jack,' he said. 'As a replicator, I'm made of several parts. Several _small_ parts. Small parts that can easily slip out of bonds and through any small crack in a wall you can find.'

Jack felt angry with himself. 'Let's go, Teal'C!' he called over the sudden noise the replicators made, and he forgot the weight of the weapon as the two ran down the remaining steps and over to the device. Both took out their pistols to keep the bugs away as they kneeled down near the device and placed the weapon at its base. Setting it to detonate would have been a simple procedure, if it weren't for the replicators continually getting in the way. Jack nearly lost a few fingers firing at a small bug that had jumped onto the weapon, then swore as the weapon activated.

'Teal'C, I think we need to go!' he called, kicking a replicator off his foot. Teal'C stood up. 'Indeed, O'Neill!'

They ran the short distance to the Gate and up the steps. Jack fired at the bugs that approached, but kept glancing back at Five, who hadn't moved from his spot, still with that manic expression. He stayed staring into the thing's eyes as Teal'C jumped through the Gate, then followed his friend as the bugs began to swarm the dais.

*

Sam had fallen asleep again. Jack stood by the bed as he thought about making it back just in time to close the iris, then as the address was checked. They knew it had worked when the wormhole failed for form. Apparently, the Stargate had also been destroyed by the blast.

Sam's eyelids opened, and she looked up at Jack. 'Did it work?' she croaked. '...Yeah,' Jack said. 'It worked.'

'Tell me what happened,' she said. Jack supposed she would have been wondering about that for a long time.

Drawing up a chair, Jack sat down, and began to tell the story in a low, monotone voice.

*

_Chevron five encoded. _

'You ready for this, sir?' Sam asked, looking in a pocket for something.

'I am,' Jack said. 'The question, I hope you realise, is whether or not you are.'

_Chevron six encoded. _

'I'm fine, sir,' Sam said.

'Good,' said Jack and Daniel together.

Teal'C looked to her and smiled. 'It is good to see you on your feet again, Major Carter.'

Sam smiled. 'Thank you, Teal'C,' she said, before returning to the pocket.

_Chevron seven locked!_

Sam closed the pocket. Uniforms were straightened as SG-1 prepared themselves for the new world designated PZ3-7X1.

Jack put on his sunglasses.

'Alright, team,' he said. 'Let's move out!'

And, with their recent troubles now merely a disturbing and rather sad memory, SG-1 left Earth for new adventures, looking forward to a future in which new friends factored heavily.


End file.
